In October 2016, the Council of Australian Governments Energy Council (COAG Energy Council) initiated a major review of the NEM chaired by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel AO.
The objective of the Independent Review into the Future Security of the NEM was to design a blueprint for how to get from the current market to one that achieves committed emissions abatement targets for the electricity sector* while ensuring a secure energy system at a reasonable cost.
The Final Report was submitted to the COAG Energy Council on 9 June 2017 and is available on the Department of Environment and Energy's website.
*Currently undefined although Australia’s commitment to the COP21 process is for a 26-28 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030, from 2005 emission levels.
In February 2017, the Clean Energy Council made a comprehensive submission to the Finkel Review. To bring some of the key concepts behind this submission into the debate, the Clean Energy Council also prepared a series of articles looking at specific issues in more detail which you can view below.